Pune: Indian Mujahideen operative Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui, accused of executing terror attacks in Bangalore and Delhi and involvement in the attempt to blow up Pune’s famed Dagadusheth Ganapati temple, was strangled to death by two other prisoners in a high-security cell of Pune’s Yerawada central jail on Friday morning. Siddiqui’s killing
not only exposes the weaknesses in security for key terror suspects but is also bound to hamper investigations into the IM that’s blamed for a series of attacks nationwide.
The 27-year-old terrorist was believed to be a close associate of Yasin Bhatkal, the main suspect in a string of terror attacks, including the German Bakery blast. Bhatkal is yet to be arrested.
Prison superintendent S V Khatavkar, who was later suspended by the Maharashtra government for the security lapse, told TOI in the morning that Siddiqui was found dead in his 10 ftx10 ft cubicle in the ‘anda’ cell of Yerawada. “We later learnt that gangster Sharad Mohol and his aide Alok Bhalerao, who were also lodged in the ‘anda’ cell, had strangled Siddiqui to death with a drawstring from a pair of shorts around 9.45am,” he said.
Siddiqui was in custody of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) since May 3 after being handed over by Delhi police, who arrested him on November 22, 2011. On May 28, he was sent to Yerawada jail after a Pune court remanded him to judicial custody till June 8. When he was handed over to Yerawada, the ATS gave a letter saying Siddiqui was a highrisk prisoner and needed to be isolated.
Siddiqui was the first suspect of a 13-member terror module to be arrested by the Delhi police. During interrogation, he revealed that on September 19, 2010, he and another IM operative, Mohammed Adil, had gone to Jama Masjid on a stolen motorcycle and fired at Taiwanese tourists, injuring them. Siddiqui was riding the motorcycle.
MUCH MORE THAN PRISON BRAWL?
Native of Darbhanga (Bihar), Qateel Siddiqui joins Indian Mujahideen in 2008 after coming in contact with IM leader Ahmad Siddi Bappa alias Shahrukh alias Yasin Bhatkal
CASES AGAINST QATEEL | Firing on Taiwanese tourists outside Jama Masjid on Sept 19, 2010; blast outside Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium on Apr 17, 2010; botched blast bid at Pune temple on Feb 13, 2010, day of German Bakery blast
MURDER ON COURT DATE
Nov 22, 2011 | Delhi police arrests Qateel May 3, 2012 | Maha ATS gets custody to question him May 21 | ATS cites Qateel info that Bhatkal is in Bihar May 28 | Qateel sent to judicial custody for 12 days.
Was to be produced in court on the day he was killed
June 8 | Qateel gets into a fight with gangster Mohol after breakfast; both are inmates of ‘anda cell’. At 9.30am, Mohol and an aide enter Qateel’s compartment,
strangle him with a drawstring Was Siddiqui murder an IM hit job?
Pune: Siddiqui was also allegedly involved in the blast outside Bangalore’s Chinnaswamy Stadium hours before an IPL match on April 17, 2010. Siddiqui told the Delhi police and the Maharashtra ATS that he was instructed by his IM bosses to plant a bomb at Pune’s Dagdusheth Halwai Ganapati temple on February 13, 2010, the day of the German Bakery blast. However, a flower vendor outside the temple refused to keep the bag containing the bomb. Siddiqui said he panicked, turned off the timer and took the bomb to Mumbai in a car and tossed it into the sea off Worli.
Siddiqui was to be produced in court later in the day as his judicial remand had come to an end.
Several theories were being bandied around. While deputy commissioner of police Dnyaneshwar Chavan said the incident was a fallout of a “petty quarrel” between Siddiqui and Mohol, investigators were probing other possible reasons, including whether it was a hit job by IM to silence Siddiqui and prevent him from squealing about the terror group’s plans and the whereabouts of the main leaders.
Two other inmates of the ‘anda’ cell, Akbar Munir Shaikh and Balu Waghire, informed the jail authorities about the murder. “Mohol told me that he had killed Siddiqui because he was involved in anti-national activities,” Shaikh reportedly told ‘anda’ cell in-charge Chandrakiran Tayade.
Prison authorities came to know about the incident only around 11am from Shaikh and Waghire, who said that Mohol and Bhalerao had killed Siddiqui and that he was lying dead in the cell.
Senior inspector of the Yerawada police station Kishore Jadhav said Tayade lodged a complaint against Mohol and Bhalerao.
Chavan said Siddiqui and Mohol got into a brawl after they had taken breakfast. “A little later, Siddiqui returned to his compartment. Around 9.45am, Mohol and Bhalerao rushed into Siddiqui’s compartment and strangled him with the drawstring of a pair of shorts,” he said.
Siddiqui, a native of Darbhanga in Bihar, joined the Indian Mujahideen in 2008 and operated under Bhatkal. Police sources in Bangalore said Siddiqui had provided shelter to Yasin, who was on the run, in Darbhanga. Siddiqui also visited Bhatkal town with Yasin to organize the logistics for their terror missions.
Prison security in question yet again
Mumbai: The daylight killing of suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Qateel Siddiqui inside the high-security Yerawada central jail in Pune on Friday has again raised a question over the safety of inmates.
In the past decade, more than 15 undertrials have been murdered in various jails in Maharashtra. The killing of Chhota Rajan aide O P Singh inside Nashik jail, the murders of Asghar Mehendi and Rajan aide John D’Souza at Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail, and the attack on Abu Salem by Mustafa Dossa in the same jail are a few among several instances.
Though the Yerawada jail is heavily guarded, it is not considered a safe place for undertrials. Sources said two undertrials, Raju Borge and Saleem Pathan, had managed to escape from the jail in December 2011 and January 2012 respectively. This could be the reason why the government dropped the plan to shift 26/11 terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab to Yerawada
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